Depth of Horsepower Augers Well for Elite NZ Eventing

It’s nothing but Rio on the minds of Equestrian
Sports New Zealand, who today have announced their new high
performance eventing squads.On the back of the bronze
medal winning team effort at the London Olympics, the
discipline has received increased funding from Sport New
Zealand, and a renewed confidence that the high performance
programme is on the right track.

ESNZ high performance
director Sarah Harris says there is no time for complacency,
the the stringently-selected squads reflect only those
combinations who have the potential to produce an individual
podium result at the Rio Olympics.

Leading the way is the
world’s number one ranked rider Andrew Nicholson who has
six horses on the squad, along with the number four ranked
Jonathan Paget with three horses and the number six ranked
Sir Mark Todd who is also on with three horses.

Rounding
out the squad are London Olympic team-mates Caroline Powell
and Jonelle Richards, along with World Champs team-member
Clarke Johnstone and London Olympic reserve Lucy
Jackson.

Powell’s double Olympic horse Lenamore is not
on the squad. The selectors are not considering him for Rio,
but the 20-year-old will be likely to be competing at
Badminton this year.

Four real up-and-coming riders have
been named on the high performance eventing accelerator
squad, in Jesse Campbell, Joe Waldron, Lizzie Brown and Tim
Price.

“The squads reflect a realignment of our
programme through to Rio,” says Harris. “We want to be
continually pushing to be better with a world-leading
programme. We are recognised as such, but we are always
looking to improve anything that leads to better
results.”

She sees the accelerator programme as vital to
future of eventing.

“People will be added to that to
ensure sustainability over time. We need to be identifying
young talent – whether that be rider or horse – and
working with them to accelerate their performances so they
have the ability to impact at Rio..”

Both squads have an
open door policy and can be changed at any
time.“It’s great to have such depth of good
horsepower,” says Harris. “Lining up for London, we were
a bit thin on the ground for second and third horses, but by
Rio we are going to be really well placed. This is an
exciting time for New Zealand equestrian.”

The
international eventing season kicks off with the Rolex
Kentucky Three Day Event in April, followed by the
Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. World
Championships in France in 2014 will be the first pinnacle
event,

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